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Alumni Baking, Pastry & Culinary Arts Business, Arts & Sciences Faculty & Staff

Faculty member authors instructional article for confectioners

Chef Charles R. Niedermyer

Pennsylvania College of Technology’s Chef Charles R. Niedermyer, instructor of baking and pastry arts/culinary arts, was recently published in Kettle Talk, the quarterly publication of Retail Confectioners International.

Niedermyer authored “Perfecting Artisan Ganache” for the magazine’s October/November/December issue. Ganache is traditionally made from chocolate and cream. In the article, Niedermyer shares technical guidance for substituting and adding ingredients, controlling water activity and extending shelf life, as well as his formula for ganache-centered molasses spice bonbons.

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3 hours ago
Dining Services Faculty & Staff Students

Students in COVID seclusion give positive feedback to Dining Services

Capitol Eatery employees decorated the tops of the to-go boxes as they prepared to deliver Thanksgiving meals.
Capitol Eatery employees decorated the tops of the to-go boxes as they prepared to deliver Thanksgiving meals.
KDR staff puts smiley-face stickers on meal orders to brighten students' day!
KDR staff puts smiley-face stickers on meal orders to brighten students’ day!

Penn College’s Dining Services staff has been collectively called an “essential hero” for preparing and providing nourishment to students cloistered by the coronavirus.

“We have delivered just over 2,500 meals since Aug. 5 – continuously – to 380 affected students in isolation and quarantine on campus,” director Mark J. Leo said Monday.

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10 hours ago
Electronics & Computer Engineering Technology Engineering Technologies Faculty & Staff STEM Students Workforce Development

New majors ‘power’ electronics lab at Penn College

Electronics students at Pennsylvania College of Technology finish installing a conveyer unit in a new lab at the college’s Center for Business & Workforce Development. The addition of two automation engineering technology baccalaureate degrees prompted the creation of the electronics lab. Besides the conveyer system, the space features 16 programmable logic controller stations and four Kuka industrial robots. About 60 students per semester are using the lab.

The addition of two automation degrees is powering a new electronics lab at Pennsylvania College of Technology.

Located in the Center for Business & Workforce Development, the 906-square-foot space is accommodating about 60 students per semester who are seeking an automation engineering technology baccalaureate degree in either mechatronics or robotics.

“Industry was telling us that they liked what our students were doing, but they were looking for more because of the growth of automation in industry,” said Stacey C. Hampton, assistant dean of industrial and computer technologies. “We looked at what we already had and how we could expand on that. When we expanded the program, we needed to expand the space. Now that we put stuff in there, I don’t know if it’s big enough!”

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1 day ago
Baking, Pastry & Culinary Arts Business & Hospitality Business, Arts & Sciences Students

LJC preps homemade feast for those away from home

Madison Y. Cooper, a culinary arts technology and applied management student and part-time Le Jeune Chef cook, wraps a pan of stuffing, ready to be baked on Friday. She is from Harrisburg.
Madison Y. Cooper, a culinary arts technology and applied management student and part-time Le Jeune Chef cook, wraps a pan of stuffing, ready to be baked on Friday. She is from Harrisburg.
Patrick E. Hufnagle, of Antes Fort, places the dough for a batch of pumpkin cranberry rolls in a dough divider/rounder.
Patrick E. Hufnagle, of Antes Fort, places the dough for a batch of pumpkin cranberry rolls in a dough divider/rounder.
After its turn in the divider/rounder, the dough is portioned, shaped and ready to bake.
After its turn in the divider/rounder, the dough is portioned, shaped and ready to bake.
Hufnagle is a baking and pastry arts and applied management student, plus a part-time baker for Le Jeune Chef.
Hufnagle is a baking and pastry arts and applied management student, plus a part-time baker for Le Jeune Chef.

In an effort to preserve at least one tradition in a year that has been anything but normal, Le Jeune Chef staff and students are preparing a free Thanksgiving feast for the dozens of students who have opted to stay on campus during the holiday break or are isolating.

While some of the prep work was completed Wednesday, the small crew will return to campus from 8 a.m.-2 p.m. Friday to complete and individually package the traditional, handmade Thanksgiving dinners.

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6 days ago
Faculty & Staff Students

In high esteem

General Services' Mary Jo DeVinney and Chad L. Karstetter rise to the occasion in side-by-side buckets.
General Services’ Mary Jo DeVinney and Chad L. Karstetter rise to the occasion in side-by-side buckets.
Perspective affirms the scope of the undertaking, aided on the ground by Michael L. Bremigen (at the tree's base) and Barbie A. Myers (behind the truck).
Perspective affirms the scope of the undertaking, aided on the ground by Michael L. Bremigen (at the tree’s base) and Barbie A. Myers (behind the truck).
Festively festooned, the spruce offers its silent salute.
Festively festooned, the spruce offers its silent salute.
From top to bottom, a cascade of color
From top to bottom, a cascade of color
Acknowledging the street-level audience
Acknowledging the street-level audience

First-shift horticulturists from General Services laid the far-above-groundwork for decorating the Veterans Holiday Tree outside Madigan Library, stringing the underlying red, white and blue lights that honor the Penn College family’s servicewomen and men. The tribute will resume on the afternoon of Dec. 3, when a crew led by Chet Beaver, coordinator of veteran and military services, will add stars and other ornaments denoting the nearly 300 campus community members who have self-identified as active-duty or veteran military personnel. The tree on the northeast side of the library has been decorated annually since 2017; its successor on the other side of Hagan Way was felled due to disease.

6 days ago
Alumni General Information

Rep. Wheeland appointed to Penn College Board of Directors

Rep. Jeff Wheeland

Rep. Jeff Wheeland, who represents the 83rd District in the state House of Representatives, has been appointed to the Pennsylvania College of Technology Board of Directors by House Speaker Bryan Cutler.

Wheeland succeeds Rep. Garth Everett, who is retiring from his seat representing the 84th District in the state House. Everett served on the Penn College Board since 2011. Wheeland’s appointment is effective immediately and runs through the 2021-22 legislative session.

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6 days ago
General Information

Essential Investments – Impact Report 2019-20

Read the 2019-20 Impact Report www.pct.edu/impactreport
Read the 2019-20 Impact Report www.pct.edu/impactreport

“As the 2019-20 academic year wound to a close – about the same time that the COVID-19 pandemic began to spiral all around us – the term ‘essential’ took on new meaning for many,” writes President Davie Jane Gilmour in the college’s 2019-20 Impact Report. Still, she notes, the original meaning on the Pennsylvania College of Technology campus was not lost: Penn College continues to provide job-ready tomorrow makers in essential professions. Read more of Gilmour’s message and about some of the many ways Penn College, its employees, students, alumni and other supporters are providing the best possible education and delivering future leaders in the 2019-20 Impact Report.

November 24, 2020
Alumni Students

Ford Motor Co. to hold online information session Dec. 1

Ford Motor Co.Ford Motor Co., recruiting technical support analysts for full-time employment and internships, will hold a virtual information session from 6-7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 1. For more on the meeting for automotive students and alumni, offered through WebEx videoconferencing, consult the Career Services flyer: Ford

November 24, 2020
Electronics & Computer Engineering Technology Engineering Technologies General Information STEM Students Workforce Development

Automation degrees power new Penn College electronics lab

The addition of two automation engineering technology baccalaureate degrees is powering a new electronics laboratory at Penn College. The lab is equipped with 16 student-installed Programmable Logic Controller stations (featuring both Allen-Bradley and Siemens PLCs), four Kuka industrial robots and a conveyer system. “We recruited the whole class that came in now, these freshmen, without having that lab,” said Stacey C. Hampton, assistant dean of industrial and computer technologies. “So having that lab now is just going to add another layer of excitement. They can see all the learning stations. They can see the robots. They can see the conveyer system.” The lab is for the “tomorrow makers” seeking an automation degree in either mechatronics or robotics.

November 24, 2020
Alumni Building Construction Business & Hospitality Management Business, Arts & Sciences Engineering Technologies

Grad’s ‘wild journey’ takes award-winning turn

Way holds an Excellence in Construction Award presented by last month by ABC's Metro Washington and Virginia chapters.

A Pennsylvania College of Technology graduate helped to lead a high-profile metro Washington construction project that recently received honors from Associated Builders and Contractors.

Jordan Way, ‘16, was the assistant project manager for Belfast Valley Contractors Inc. as the company completed concrete work on the seven-story Hyatt Place luxury hotel on the waterfront in National Harbor, Maryland. Way holds an associate degree in building construction technology: masonry emphasis, and a bachelor’s degree in applied management.

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November 23, 2020
General Information

Setting tone of Thanksgiving, center’s children show gratitude

CLC staff members Smith (left) and Cowher join the Bunnies in saying a star-spangled "thank you" to servicemen and women.
CLC staff members Smith (left) and Cowher join the Bunnies in saying a star-spangled “thank you” to servicemen and women.
General Services' Thomas R. McFadden (left) and Joseph P. Helminiak meet with a most appreciative flock of Birds.
General Services’ Thomas R. McFadden (left) and Joseph P. Helminiak meet with a most appreciative flock of Birds.

To continue to spread kindness and teach appreciation, the girls and boys at the Dunham Children’s Learning Center took time to make a mural and a poster of thanks this November. The Bunnies’ classroom of 2-year-olds (left), accompanied by group leader Stacie L. Smith and assistant group leader Michelle M. Cowher, thanked all veterans for their service. And the 4-year-olds in the Birds’ class, led by group leader Tiffany L. Tyhanic and assistant group leader Valerie L. Vonada, artistically recognized General Services team members for repairing the deck around their beautiful tree on the preschool playground.
Photos by Linda A. Reichert, CLC director

November 23, 2020
Building Construction Engineering Technologies Faculty & Staff Students

Students’ service project brings ‘bit of joy’ to isolated residents

Landes saws wood pieces for one of four bases.

Carhartts and coffee were among the blustery-day necessities as a group of Pennsylvania College of Technology construction students, accompanied by faculty and cheered by representatives of a Williamsport nonprofit, erected a pavilion for grateful residents of a personal care home.

Taking part in the off-campus outreach at West House Inc., 616 W. Edwin St., were students Jake B. Campbell, of Scranton; Dane T. Landes, of Ottsville; Stephen K. Lee, of Bethlehem; Will E. Marconi, of Chadds Ford; and Zach Spearly, of Bellefonte. Marconi is a building construction technology major; Lee is enrolled in residential construction technology and management; and Campbell, Landes and Spearly are in the residential construction technology and management: building construction technology concentration.

They were joined in the project by Levon A. Whitmyer, instructor of building construction technology, and D. Robert Cooley, associate professor of anthropology/environmental science – the initial liaison between West House and the college.

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